3rd Generation iPod

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By Daniel Dwase...

The 3rd generation iPod featured the four buttons above the touch wheel with "select" in the center and slightly smaller than its predecessors and was introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on April 28, 2003.

They had more distinctively beveled edges and Apple produced 10 GB, 15 GB, 20 GB, 30 GB, and 40 GB versions.

These iPods use a 30-pin connector called the Dock Connector (longer and flatter than a FireWire connector).

The iPod Dock came bundled with all but the least expensive iPod and also retailed separately.

It featured touch-sensitive buttons located between the display and touch wheel.

The new buttons featured red backlighting, allowing easier use in darkness.

The touch-sensitive buttons, which was built upon the touch-sensitive scroll wheel introduced in the 2nd generation iPod, makes it unique in that it has no external moving parts (other than the hold slider on the top of the unit) and is the only iPod that doesn't have its buttons surrounding the wheel.

Apple stopped shipping separate Mac and Windows versions of the unit and instead, all iPods were shipped with their hard drives formatted for Macintosh use; they included CD-ROM featuring a Windows utility which could be reformatted for use with a Windows PC.

See Also...

iPod Reviews...

iPod classic Review
• iPod video Review
• iPod nano 3rd generation Review
• iPod nano 2nd generation Review
• iPod nano 1st generation Review
• iPod shuffle 3rd generation Review
• iPod shuffle 2nd generation Review
• iPod shuffle 1st generation Review
• iPhone Review

• 30GB iPod video
• iPod shuffle under $20
• iPod shuffle under $40
• iPod nano under $50
• iPod nano under $100
• iPod mini under $100
• iPod video under $100
• iPod classic under $150
• iPod classic under $200
• iPod video under $200
• iPod touch under $250
• iPod touch under $290

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